Richard Marshall's 78-yard interception return for a touchdown after a botched fake field-goal attempt by the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday was no accident.

Marshall, a Carolina Panthers' reserve cornerback and special-teams' mainstay, had the Eagles' trickery sniffed out from the start.

The play happened in the first quarter of the Eagles' 24-13 exhibition victory, with Philadelphia's David Akers apparently set for a 34-yard field-goal attempt.

But Marshall noticed something different about how the Eagles lined up.

“From watching film, their end men always block down on me,” he said. “They never let me come free. So, when they let me come free, that kind of put some flags for me, like something's not right.”

Holder Sav Rocca took the snap, and instead of placing the ball on the ground for Akers to kick, flipped it toward to tight end Brent Celek, who was sprinting on a parallel path just behind the line of scrimmage.

“When I saw the man coming toward me, and there's never a man coming toward me, I knew it was a fake,” said Marshall, who was lined up on the left side of the play.

Marshall took off with Celek, matching him stride-for-stride. Rocca threw the ball toward Celek anyway.

Notes

Receiver Muhsin Muhammad missed Saturday's practice with injured ribs suffered against the Eagles. Fox said Muhammad didn't have a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit from Philadelphia's Brian Dawkins.

Tight end Chris Conklin also missed practice because of illness. Others who were out: Cornerback Chris Gamble (hamstring), tight ends Gary Barnidge (strained gluteal muscle), tight end Dante Rosario (hamstring), safety Chris Harris (upper leg) and receiver D.J. Hackett (toe). Receiver Ryne Robinson worked out with the other injured players for the first time since hurting his leg early in training camp.

Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, both of whom were hurt for the Eagles game, were back Saturday, giving the receiving corps much more depth. Including tight ends, six Panthers receivers didn't even travel to Philadelphia. “We'll be better off this week than we were last week,” said coach John Fox.

The Panthers are also dealing with a nine-day break before their next exhibition, Aug.23 against Washington at Bank Of America Stadium. The Eagles game came just five days after the exhibition opener against the Colts. “We're catching up for that short week,” said Fox.